“The official Stars Wars voices for Garmin personal navigation devices (PND) may not help users fight their way through the galaxy. But it should have some entertainment value for fans of the franchise as they fight their way through traffic.

“There are some pretty amusing lines to lend an ear to as Darth Vader and Yoda guide users along a route. These include the Sith Lord’s ‘Traffic ahead. The Emperor has foreseen it’ and ‘Proceed to the highlighted route. Your destiny lies with me. Obi-wan knew this to be true.

“The developers haven’t left out the signature breathing, Star Wars’ sound effects like TIE fighters or lightsabers and John Williams’ Imperial March music either. The voice of Yoda is played out according to the Jedi Master’s characteristic speech patterns and also accompanied by dialogue by Obi-wan Kenobi taken from the films.”

Produced with Lucas Films and Locutio Voice Technologies, Garmin’s latest ‘voice and vehicle’ bundles come in English with 3D map icons – an X-wing starfighter for Yoda, and a TIE Advanced X1 fighter for Vader – and feature randomised navigation dialogue so users are not overcome by all the Jedi mind-tricks.

Both companies are selling their downloads for NZ$15 (US$12.95) each, though Garmin’s Master Yoda is still being perfected apparently. Its Darth Vader option can be purchased at its own webstore, Spot It Out’s GPS apps shop or as a gift card from Best Buy outlets.

But, for now, the handheld GPSr version is only available in a galaxy, far, far away …